Abstract

SIGAL, Liliana  and  RAINA, Gabriela Beatriz. Post-COVID-19 Laryngeal Dystonia: Report of Two Cases and Potential Pathophysiological Explanation. Rev. Investig. Innov. Cienc. Salud [online]. 2024, vol.6, n.1, pp.241-253.  Epub Jan 08, 2024. ISSN 2665-2056.  https://doi.org/10.46634/riics.233.

Laryngeal dystonia (LD), also known as spasmodic dysphonia, is a task-specific focal movement disorder, primarily affecting voice production. The dystonic movements of the vocal folds result in a varied phenomenology, typically hard vocal breaks and strain in the adductor-type laryngeal dystonia (ADLD), and breathy breaks or aphonia in the abductor-type laryngeal dystonia (ABLD). More than 80% of patients have suffered from ADLD.

Two female patients developed LD a month after presenting an upper respiratory tract infection by COVID-19. They had the adductor-type laryngeal dystonia. Through the acoustic study of the vowel /a/ breaks, frequency changes and aperiodicity were observed. Speech was studied using the phonetogram, and the range of speech is altered in both patients.

The inflammation of the peripheral nerves of the larynx by COVID-19 produced a sensory alteration, with a maladaptive response in these patients, who perhaps had predisposing genetic basis, or the immunological activation or the invasion of the germ by retrograde pathway altered the neuronal networks involved in the genesis of LD.

Keywords : Laryngeal dystonia; spasmodic dysphonia; post-COVID-19 dystonia; COVID-19.

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